Franklin-Wandless House - Lost Bayou Historical District - Galveston, TX - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
Section 8 - Page 28

Statement of Significance

The Lost Bayou Historic District is a residential area in Galveston that includes a cohesive collection of mid-to-late nineteenth- and early-to-mid twentieth-century residences. Roughly bound by the alley north of Avenue K, 21st Street (Moody Avenue) to the west, the alleys south of avenues M 1/2 and M, and 16th and 14th streets to the east, the district presents a mix of popular architectural forms and styles from multiple eras. The neighborhood’s mixed housing stock not only reflects some of Galveston’s most significant events and periods in its history, but the variety of house styles and plans also reflects how these events impacted residential and neighborhood development. The district also reflects the building trends and patterns of less-affluent neighborhoods in the city. Developed on land shared with Hitchcock’s Bayou, which was eventually filled in and “lost,” this area was considered “subpar” in comparison to land north of Broadway Street - including what became the East End neighborhood - and therefore primarily became home to the working and middle classes. As such, Lost Bayou consists largely of modest-sized homes, and is considered one of the best collections of standard architecture - commonly built using standardized plans and readily available construction materials - in Galveston. Though most of the houses in the district represent common types and styles for their era, several larger, more ornate houses are dotted throughout the neighborhood and notable architects Nicholas Clayton and Alfred Muller, among others, are represented in Lost Bayou. The Lost Bayou Historic District is nominated under Criterion C in the area of Architecture at the local level of significance, and 401 resources contribute to the historic district. The period of significance for the Lost Bayou Historic District begins in 1856—the date of the oldest building in the district-and stretches to 1940. By 1940, the major periods of development within the Lost Bayou historic district were over and all the most-significant buildings were extant. Additionally, building construction after 1940 was minimal, sporadic, and did not reflect important postwar architectural trends.

Serial Number: NRS5-0415
Property Name: HOUSE
County: GALVESTON
Property Address: 1920 AVENUE M
City/Rural: GALVESTON
Date/Period
Quad Sheet
UTM
Style
Architect/Builder
Construction:2-STORY WOOD
Owner
Original Use:RESIDENCE
Present Use: SAME
Physical Condition: GOOD
Physical Condition: Altered/Unaltered 2 SMALL ADDITIONS AT REAR
Roof Material
Relationship to Surroundings BLOCK 19; LOT 12

Significance:
Double frame house of the last quarter of the 19th century; the house is 5-bays wide with a double entrance door and windows which extend to the floor; the double gallery extends across the front of the house; the main roof structure is a low hip-roof with a pediment over the main entrance; the cornice has handsome, very deep console brackets; the whole south half of this block is a good representation of Galveston residential architecture of the later 19th century.

Franklin-Wandless House

Built in 1886 to replace a house destroyed in the Great Strand Fire, this was the home of Robert Morris and Sarah Franklin. Robert Franklin (1839-1923) was the son of Benjamin C. Franklin, the Battle of San Jacinto veteran for whom Franklin County was named. An attorney and judge, he had taken part in the Civil War Battle of Galveston as a "horse Marine," a Confederate cavalryman aboard a makeshift "cottonclad" battleship. As the officer in charge of a captured Federal ship, Franklin single-handedly captured notorious Confederate deserter and Union spy "Nicaragua" Smith the day after the battle.

The house probably was designed by noted Galveston architect Nathaniel Tobey, whose works included the Galveston Opera House. According to family history, it survived the 1900 storm with three feet of water inside the downstairs rooms. Franklin was actively involved in the planning of the seawall.

John F. Wandless (1879-1961) was born in New Brunswick, Canada. He was a veteran of the Boer War and World War I, and worked as a mounted policeman and journalist before coming to Galveston in 1921. John and his wife Vernonica "Vera" Wandless (1896-1977), bought the house from the Franklin heirs in 1931. During World War II, John Wandless served as a key Gulf Coast security and intelligence officer for Great Britain, while Vera operated the popular local British Allied & Merchant Navy Club. They achieved U. S. citizenship in the 1950s.

The Franklin-Wandless house is an imposing example of the Italianate style. Hallmark features of the style include pedimented doors and windows, corbelled eaves and the double gallery porch with chamfered (beveled) posts and bandsawn brackets.

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1999